Clean Water: A 21st-Century Dilemma

While some areas of the world brim with fresh, clean water, growing demand for this precious natural resource has resulted in severe shortages across the globe, from Africa, South Asia, and Australia to the American West, South, and Southwest.  Moreover, climate change is likely to spur population shifts from drier, hotter areas to more temperate areas, putting added pressure on water resources.

Increasingly, policy makers in countries all over the world are seeking solutions to the global water crisis through scientific research.  The College of Arts and Sciences has assumed a leadership role at Syracuse University in building a diverse team of scientists with the expertise needed to address these global issues through the newly established Clean Water Initiative. “The College of Arts and Sciences, the University, and the wider Syracuse research communities have a critical role to play in the world of water – locally, nationally, and globally,” says Dean George Langford.  “The College’s Clean Water Initiative will advance water-related research both in The College and across the University.”

The College has a strong cohort of top-level scientists, scholars, and technologists working on a wide range of water issues, from water quality and quantity to the legal, political, and social ramifications of the world’s endangered water supply. The Clean Water Initiative draws together, under a single umbrella, experts from a variety of fields; formalizes and supports existing collaboration; and promotes the development of new partnerships. Such collaborations and partnerships also attract more research dollars, high-quality faculty who will broaden the University’s areas of expertise, and excellent students. Faculty in The College’s departments of Earth Sciences and Biology, the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Sciences’ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Maxwell Schools’ Department of Geography, and the College of Law, are involved in the initiative along with colleagues at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF), the Upstate Freshwater Institute, and others.

Attracting multi-million dollar grants from such agencies as the National Science Foundation, non-profit foundations, and other sources requires a large center or program where multiple investigators work together across disciplines to focus on critical, complex issues. The multi-disciplinary Clean Water Initiative focuses on such areas as climate change and its effect on the ocean, storms, and freshwater supply; the rapid and worldwide melting of glaciers, ice sheets, and snow pack; the degradation and overuse of freshwater supplies; and the impact of all these issues on societies and ecologies worldwide.“We have talented faculty at SU who can look at almost any water issue that comes down the pike,” says Donald I. Siegel, a hydrogeologist and Meredith Professor in Earth Sciences who’s been working on wetlands, groundwater contamination, and other major water issues for 30 years. “Our scientists are studying every aspect of world water as well as water beyond our world,” he says.

The College has committed $4 million to support the Clean Water Initiative. The money will provide startup funds for new faculty, fellowships, equipment, staff, and more. Additionally, a search is underway for a senior faculty member to lead the Clean Water Initiative. “We are looking for a scientist who can bring to the program an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to the study of water at SU,” Langford says.

Among the many water-related projects the new director will encounter at SU is the work being done by Siegel, who has considerable expertise in the impact of crude oil and other contaminants on groundwater systems and wetlands. His public comments on the science of hydrofracking (the removal of natural gas from shale beds) have stirred controversy in Central New York. Siegel believes the release of methane gas through hydrofracking is unlikely to lead to widespread contamination of groundwater systems. “It’s the salt they should be concerned about,” Siegel says.

Salt is one of the potential contaminants introduced in hydrofracking, but Siegel maintains that road salt, septic systems, and natural salt are more likely to contaminate groundwater. He is seeking funding to develop a method of “fingerprinting” water contaminated with salt, methane, or other substances in order to trace the contamination to its source—natural or manmade. Siegel also collaborates with Shuquing An of Nanjing University to find solutions for nutrient contamination in the Taihu Lake region of Eastern China.